Profile

The Japanese chainlet East serves an array of sushi and appetizers like inside-out tuna maki with a mild mayonnaise sauce and scallions, glistening eel, sweet rice balls thickly spread with chestnut paste. There's edamame to munch on, plus seaweed salad, battered fish cakes, and sweet pastel-colored mochi balls. On the full menu are reliable mainstays, such as chicken yakitori, delicately sautéed vegetable gyoza, and rather heavily battered tempura served with a tangy ponzu sauce. Bento boxes, with hot and cold dishes, are popular. If you're blessed with children who love raw fish, this is a fun place for them to watch the sushi chef in action. And because prices are relatively gentle, you can keep shopping afterwards — Kara Newman

East also serves Asari Jiru, a smokey miso soup with clamshells at the bottom of the bowl. The shellfish are a nod to the bounty of seafood available in the port city of Tokyo.

Note
The flagship branch of East at 366 Third Ave. has conveyer-belt service where you grab small plates from a passing belt as whimsy strikes.

Beef negimaki, $14; vegetable gyoza, $5; salmon skin roll, $1.25